January The first Freshippo store is launched, marking the debut of the New Retail-powered grocery retail chain.
March Alibaba Group exceeds RMB3 trillion in FY2016 gross merchandise volume (GMV) on its China retail marketplaces and becomes the largest retail economy in the world.
April Alibaba Group acquires a controlling stake in Lazada, a leading e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia.
May Alibaba Group launches the Alibaba Global Leadership Academy (AGLA) program, a talent development program dedicated to fostering future Alibaba global leaders.
First batch of AGLA program participants
July Alibaba Group hosts the inaugural Taobao Maker Festival to showcase the creative ideas and designs of Taobao merchants to the world.
The inaugural Taobao Maker Festival
September The concept of an Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP) envisioned by Jack Ma is endorsed by G20 leaders.
October Alibaba Digital Media & Entertainment Group is formally announced.
November Alibaba Cloud announces the opening of four new data centers in the Middle East (Dubai), Europe (Frankfurt), Australia (Sydney) and Japan (Tokyo).
